Canadian poker pro Sam Greenwood wrapped a terrific week last night by outlasting the 1,061 entries of the partypoker Caribbean Poker Party $5,300 MILLIONS Main Event. The player collected $1 million in prize money and the partypoker trophy after an action-packed heads-up match against Russia’s Andrey Shatilov.

The final day of the tournament was played on Saturday. It kicked off with 12 remaining players and with Greenwood as the chip leader. Action developed quickly at first and it did not take that long before the field was reduced to just nine players. Play then slowed down a bit and the players needed several hours before setting the official final table of eight.

Shatilov emerged as the chip leader after eliminating Udo Erlei in seventh place, and maintained his advantage all the way down to heads-up. Greenwood himself was not running bad at the final table, although it can be said that he had a bit of a bumpy ride. There was a point in play when he had only two and a half big blinds left. However, he managed to improve quickly.

Greenwood had built a solid stack by the time there were only four players left at the table and was trailing not far behind the chip leader, Shatilov.

It was actually Greenwood who set the heads-up match. The player eliminated Jonas Gjeldstad, who was the short stack at the time, in third place to enter the final stage of the tournament and play against Shatilov for the title and the first-place prize.

Heads-Up Action

The two-handed match kicked off with Shatilov holding the chip lead. He had a total of 598 million to Greenwood’s 449 million. The two players battled it out for good three hours before the name of the champion became clear. During that time, chips swung back and forth and it was more than clear that none of the two survivors would give up on the title without putting up a good fight.

On what turned out to be the final hand in play, Greenwood raised to 24 million pre-flop and Shatilov called to see the [8s][6s][4h] flop. Shatilov checked and Greenwood bet 20 million. Shatilov called. The [3d] landed on the turn. Shatilov checked and Greenwood bet 100 million. Shatilov took some time to consider his next move and eventually shoved for his last 362 million.

Greenwood called instantly, tabling [Kh][Kd] against his opponent’s [9c][8c]. The [5d] appeared on the river and the Russian player was eliminated in second place, good for $650,000.

Talking about the tournament and the heads-up match, Greenwood showed great appreciation for his final opponent. The champion went on to modestly say that he won the tournament mainly because he was on the right side of the cards.

The Canadian cashed in a total of three tournaments over the course of the Caribbean Poker Party festival. The player first finished third in the $10,300 High Roller, then improved to second-place finish in the $25,500 Super High Roller, and finally took down the Main Event. Greenwood thus added more than $1.3 million to his poker bankroll.